Now that South Dakota has empowered a commission to oversee mixed martial arts contests in the state, Sioux Falls city officials might reconsider a 2005 ordinance that keeps such events out of city-owned facilities.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard on Wednesday signed a clean-up bill giving proper authority to a commission the Legislature created last year to regulate both MMA and boxing. The South Dakota Athletic Commission will start drafting rules and regulations with a goal of being ready by July 1, when the new law takes effect.

On Tuesday, amateur fighter Nate Flanders asked the Sioux Falls City Council to change its ordinance, which prohibits MMA events at The Arena and other city-owned buildings and parks; it also sets out rules for private “ultimate fighting” events, requiring ringside paramedics, physicals for contestants and liability insurance for the promoters, as well as requiring a permit through the police chief.

Flanders said the sport has evolved in terms of safety and popularity since the ordinance was passed in 2005.

“We’re highly trained athletes, no different than football players or basketball players,” he said. “We love our sport.”

Council open to change

Many city councilors favor making a change.

Greg Jamison said he’d want the events to be done professionally, adhering to state laws. “Follow that, and let’s book it,” he said.

He said he’d consider bringing a proposal to change the ordinance this summer once the state commission is close to getting its regulations in place. It could be a good use for the Arena, Jamison said.

“I think it would be a great chance to … put butts in seats,” he said. “The last thing the city needs is to have the arena sitting full of hot air.”

Councilor Kermit Staggers agreed. He voted against the ordinance in 2005.

“I thought some of my colleagues on the council were a little hypersensitive about this sport,” he said.

Councilor Dean Karsky said he’d consider a change if the events were done with the proper sanctioning, but Rex Rolfing was more hesitant.

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“I have some real reservations about that kind of fighting for entertainment,” Rolfing said.

Councilor Kenny Anderson Jr. said he plans to look into the laws and talk to people involved with the sport and the state commission before pursuing a change locally.

Waiting on the state

SMG, the management company that runs the city’s entertainment venues, including the Arena and the new Denny Sanford Premier Center, hosts MMA events at other facilities in the region.

“It’s one of those things that’s up to the community,” General Manager Terry Torkildson said.

The ordinance would not prohibit an MMA event from being held at a private facility, such as the Sanford Sports Complex; General Manager Eric Larsen said they’d consider doing so.

“To date, the Sanford Sports Complex has not hosted a mixed martial arts competition. We would consider holding such an event at the Sports Complex, but only if it meets the requirements of the South Dakota Athletic Commission and is in compliance with all other state and local regulations, including Sioux Falls city ordinances,” Larsen said in an emailed statement.

Bruce Hoyer, owner of the Next Edge Academy, thinks the city should wait for the state commission to establish itself before changing the ordinance. He worries that if the first MMA event in Sioux Falls is not done right and by a reputable organization, it would “put a bad taste in everybody’s mouth, so the community as a whole kind of goes against the sport,” he said.

The current state law requires that any MMA events taking place be regulated by the state’s new athletic commission. But because of an oversight last session, only the legislation Daugaard signed Wednesday gave the commission the authority it needed to regulate those events.

The rules the commission comes up with will go through a process that involves taking public comment. July 1 is the earliest they could take effect. Until then, no MMA events should be taking place in South Dakota, said Jennifer Stalley, executive director for the athletic commission; the two Victory Fighting Championship events last year in Rapid City were perhaps outside the rule.

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Ryan Stoddard owns the Omaha-based Victory Fighting Championship.

“I think Sioux Falls is doing its fans … and doing their city a disservice not to allow MMA to come in there,” Stoddard said. “They’re losing out on good tax revenue.”

He said the VFC events in Nebraska brought that state $35,000 in tax revenue last year.

The first Rapid City event last June brought $65,000 in ticket revenue, Stoddard said, which meant thousands in sales taxes for the city.

Fighters want precautions

VFC’s November event in Rapid City showed the side of the sport that made Daugaard and other officials hesitant to legitimize it. Jon Henderson’s leg broke 36 seconds into the second round of his bout with Flanders.

With two doctors on staff and an ambulance staffed with two EMTs, Stoddard said, the fighter was on his way to the hospital within 10 minutes.

“That’s what regulation is all about,” he said.

Fighters training Wednesday night at the Next Edge Academy gym in Sioux Falls appreciate the state’s efforts to make the sport safe.

“I think with a governing body and a commission behind it, it will implement a higher level of safety,” said Ryan Debelak, 30, who has played soccer and rugby but got into MMA four years ago. He’s training for an amateur bout in Owatonna, Minn., in April.

Stephanie “Snowflake” Eggink said creating a commission was much needed. Fights were still happening in the absence of an authoritative body, and they weren’t safe, she said.

“You had these backyard brawls (with fighters) that weren’t athletes,” she said. “MMA is so much more than that.”

Eggink, 25, is a professional fighter who was on the U.S. Olympic team in 2007 and found MMA two or three years ago. She’s already a champion, winning the 115-pound belt with the Florida-based XFC organization last September.

If Sioux Falls officials open up the arena to MMA, it would provide a boost to the sport, she said. “It’s only going to make it seem more legit.”